Entries with the tag: ken+holland

All These Guys Do is Golf

by Paul on 08/01/08 at 07:23 AM
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from David Pollak of Working the Corners,

Doug Wilson, Ken Holland, Dale Tallon and Doug Armstrong have spent a lot of time in recent years trying to outsmart each other. We’re talking about three NHL general managers — Wilson with the Sharks, Holland with the Red Wings, Tallon with the Blackhawks — and Armstrong, an ex-GM in Dallas who is now part of the Blues’ front office.

No matter. The four of them are heading to Ireland next week, leaving families behind to knock a golf ball around some of that country’s fine courses.

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Late Afternoon Line

by Paul on 07/31/08 at 05:35 PM
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“When he got to Detroit, we had a lot of talented players,” said Red Wings GM Ken Holland. “He took us from being a talented team to being a championship team. He got (Slava) Fetisov and (Igor) Larionov to come here and he put The Russian Five (Sergei Fedorov, Larionov, Slava Kozlov, Fetisov and Vladimir Konstantinov) together. He’s the one who transformed Steve Yzerman from a great offensive player to a great two-way player.”

more on Bowman from Ken Campbell of the Hockey News…

One of my favorite Scotty moments while with the Wings.

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Stevens, Holland Honored By THN

by Paul on 07/21/08 at 06:02 PM
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from Jason Kay of the Hockey News,

Our NHL coach of the year is being recognized for what we believe is an underrated turnaround.

John Stevens’ Flyers went from last overall in the NHL in 2006-07, to sixth in their conference, posting a points improvement of 39.

The only coach who came close to matching the feat in 2007-08 was Washington’s Bruce Boudreau (plus-24). That the Flyers toppled the Capitals in the first round of the playoffs, then upset the No. 1-seeded Canadiens in Round 2, carried significant weight in our decision....

Our executive of the year, Red Wings GM Ken Holland, is quick to reference some of his best decisions have been about team-building…in the front office.

He is surrounded by an elite staff of advisors, including assistant GM Jim Nill, vice-presidents Jimmy Devellano and Steve Yzerman, consultant Scotty Bowman, Euro super-scout Hakan Andersson and an exceptional coach in Mike Babcock.

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Hey Mats, Head To Detroit

by Paul on 07/13/08 at 07:54 AM
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from Kevin Paul Dupont of the Boston Globe,

The Canucks remain hopeful that Mats Sundin will take the two-year, $20 million deal they’ve left on the table. Great spot, Vancouver, but the Canucks aren’t winning the Cup with Sundin, this year or next. If he wants to win, his only real option is to sign with the Red Wings, and take the kind of “championship discount” Marian Hossa accepted ($7.45 million per year). “Marian made it clear that he wanted to be with an elite team,” said one of the 29 NHL general managers who didn’t land the elite right wing. “And right now, it looks like there is only one elite team in the league.”

many more NHL topics…

Ken Holland has stated the Wings are not on Sundin’s radar, just in case you are asking.

Expect Hossa to Stay in Detroit

by Alanah McGinley on 07/07/08 at 07:00 PM
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From Ken Campbell at The Hockey News,

In a hockey world rife with uncertainty, you can take this one to the bank: if Hossa turns out to be a good fit with the Red Wings, he will be in Detroit beyond next season and for many more to come.

There is absolutely no way Holland makes this deal exclusively with the 2008-09 season in mind. When Holland makes a deal of any magnitude, it must serve two purposes –that is make the Red Wings a better team in the short-term and a better team in the long-term. And there is no way Holland would have made the deal if he hadn’t already figured out there’s a good chance he’ll be able to get Hossa in the fold on a multi-year deal after next season.

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Holland Talks

by Paul on 07/02/08 at 04:33 PM
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Ken Holland was on Fan590 in Toronto about 1/2 hour ago and talked about how the Hossa deal came about.  Kenny also mentioned future plans and said the Sundin camp told him yesterday afternoon that they were not interested in the Wings offer, they would be going in a different direction.

listen here…

Afternoon Line

by Paul on 06/21/08 at 05:33 PM
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from Eric Duhatschek of the Globe and Mail,

“Their (scouting staff) job is to find players; I’m busy working the floor,” said Holland. He didn’t seem to be working the floor too hard at this stage in a quiet second day of the NHL draft. “You know what? You can’t watch 10 amateur games and have an impact on the draft. You either live it – or you don’t. I can’t help out by watching Guelph play 10 times in a year.”

more on the Wings…

Holmstrom Having Surgery Today

by Alanah McGinley on 06/11/08 at 01:17 PM
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Noted by Ted Kulfan in his Detroit News blog:

In other news, Holland said Tomas Holmstrom is having surgery Wednesday morning for a sports hernia.

Holland estimates it’ll be six to eight weeks of recuperation, which will make Holmstrom ready for training camp.

More info at MLive.

Babcock Press Conference Full of Zero Surprises

by Alanah McGinley on 06/11/08 at 11:33 AM
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The AP’s anonymous NHL source knew what he/she was talking about yesterday. This morning’s press conference in Detroit did indeed announce that Mike Babcock has been signed to 3 more years:

Red Wings general manager Ken Holland today announced the team has signed head coach Mike Babcock to a 3-year contract extension.

“Mike has been a huge part in the Red Wings’ success during his time in Detroit,” said Holland.  “We are fortunate to have secured a coach with his work ethic and leadership for another three seasons.”

Press conference can be seen here. Helene St. James of the Free Press states that the deal is believed to be worth $1.5 million per season.

Decisions in Detroit

by Alanah McGinley on 06/08/08 at 03:54 AM
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From George Sipple at the Free Press,

Red Wings general manager Ken Holland will be on the golf links soon, but he has some business to take care of the next few days. Holland hopes to meet with goaltender Dominik Hasek and forward Dallas Drake to gauge their interest in returning next season before he leaves for Thursday’s NHL awards show in Toronto.

Holland also will talk with defenseman Chris Chelios, who needs to have his injured knee scoped in the off-season.

“I have every intention of coming back,” Chelios said. “It’s never been a money issue, so we’ll figure it out and hopefully we’ll be back in this stall again.”

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Holland At The Top Of His Game

by Paul on 05/27/08 at 08:30 AM
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from Helene Elliott of the LA Times,

No crowd will ever sing the praises of the winning team’s general manager, as the fans in Joe Louis Arena chanted “Oz-ie” Monday in tribute to goaltender Chris Osgood’s second consecutive shutout in the Stanley Cup final.

If ever a general manager deserved public accolades it’s Detroit’s Ken Holland, who put together a team that takes its dedication to defense as seriously as its dedication to one another.

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Holland’s Philosophy

by Alanah McGinley on 05/25/08 at 04:27 PM
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From Eric Duhatschek at the Globe & Mail,

Holland was talking about a time, back at the 1999 NHL trading deadline, when he and his assistant, Jim Nill “blew out all those draft picks” in deals to acquire, among others, Wendel Clark and Chris Chelios in a bid to win another Stanley Cup. That didn’t work out.

That night, sitting in a sports bar near his house, seeing his picture on every TV screen, Holland said he turned to Nill and said from then on: “we’ve got to draft defencemen because eventually, when (Steve) Yzerman’s too old and (Brendan) Shanahan’s too old and (Sergei) Fedorov’s gone, how do you stay competitive? If you’re in the top five in goals-against in the league every year, you’ve going to be competitive. You have to be, even if you don’t score a lot. So if you look at our drafts the last six or seven years, all we draft are defencemen. We’ve got lots of kids that we think our close to playing.”

much more

Red Wings Media Transcripts

by Alanah McGinley on 05/23/08 at 06:16 PM
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From Media Day in Detroit, transcripts from the Q&As with the Detroit Red Wings.

• Nicklas Lidstrom and Chris Osgood
• Ken Holland and Mike Babcock

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Scouting Played a Role

by Alanah McGinley on 05/23/08 at 11:08 AM
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From the Globe & Mail,

How did these teams end up on hockey’s biggest stage?  In part, super scouting.

A well-used hockey saying goes like this: “Great players make great coaches.” That’s true.

The corollary: Great scouts make great general managers. (Ask Wings GM Ken Holland.) Take it a step further, and scouts make GMs look good by acquiring the right players either through the draft, trades or signings.

It’s not a secret: Scouting is the life blood of any successful hockey team.

more on the scouting backgrounds of the two finalists

Update 8:11am ET: Dan Rosen at NHL.com has more on team-building on the Pittsburgh side, going back to the Craig Patrick era.

The NHL Hour—with Ken Holland

by Alanah McGinley on 05/15/08 at 01:35 PM
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Detroit Red Wings GM Ken Holland will be the guest on the NHL Hour today, hosted by NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman. The show is on from 4-5 p.m. ET today on XM Satellite Radio (Channel 204) and NHL.com. NHL Hour is an interactive talk radio show that is hosted by a rotation of League executives, and co-hosted by XM sports host and former NHL player Bill Clement.

At show time, you can listen live by going to the NHL Network Online, then on the “NHL Livewire” link in the left column, and the show will then be accessible in the right column.

* While on the air, listeners can call into the show at 1-877-645-6696, or send questions/comments via this email address: nhlhour@nhl.com
**Archived shows available for download via a podcast on NHL.com. 

Questions for Mike Babcock & Ken Holland

by Alanah McGinley on 05/07/08 at 02:42 PM
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A short Q&A session with the media, talking with Detroit Red Wings coach Mike Babcock and GM Ken Holland.

Q. What sort of lessons do you take from being at this point last season as you enter this series?

COACH MIKE BABCOCK: Well, I think the big thing is I’ve been really fortunate to be here. This is my third time in five years, and it’s the best time of year. It’s a lot of fun. You want to prepare as hard as you can and get your team ready to go.

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Detroit’s Playoff MVP Wears a Suit

by Alanah McGinley on 05/05/08 at 03:34 PM
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From Jamie Samuelsen at the Detroit Free Press,

The Red Wings are halfway to a Stanley Cup. While there are many candidates, who’s your Red Wings playoff MVP?

Ken Holland. Seriously, before we get to the question, let’s give the Wings GM a little round of applause here. Talk about Mission: Impossible.

Ken, here’s your job. Take a team full of veterans and full of huge salaries and pare it down to fit in the new financial limitations of the NHL. And while you’re doing this, we’d really appreciate it if you could still contend for Stanley Cups and develop world class stars that the fans can root for. No pressure or anything. Thanks Kenny. Good luck. I’m sure all championships are satisfying and if the Wings win, Holland would say that this ranks right up there with the other rings. But down deep, I’ll bet you that this one will be a little more special. 1997 was great and 1998 was emotional because of the limousine accident. But Holland would have to, in an honest moment, tell himself that this was his best work.

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Maybe, Maybe Not For Wings Trade

by Paul on 02/22/08 at 05:14 PM
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from TSN,

Detroit Red Wings general manager Ken Holland says he’s prepared to make a big deal, but the price will have to be right.

“Would we like to do a big move? Sure, I think everybody would like to do a big move,” Holland told TSN. “But at what cost?”

Holland said it’s a matter of risk and reward.

“Last year we brought in Todd Bertuzzi and paid a fairly significant price in Shawn Matthias, a real good prospect,” Holland said. “I don’t know if we are prepared to do that every year.

“We might do that this year, we might not. We’ll see in the next four days.”

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Four NHL GMs in Press Conference Today

by Alanah McGinley on 02/13/08 at 02:02 PM
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Today, the NHL hosted a press teleconference call featuring four general managers of the NHL.  They can be heard on the audio player below, or downloaded here. Please have patience with loading or downloading, as it’s a very large mp3 file.

Each Q&A session is roughly 15 minutes each, and are featured in this order:

• Ken Holland—Detroit Red Wings
• Paul Holmgren—Philadelphia Flyers
• Don Waddell—Atlanta Thrashers
• Brian Burke—Anaheim Ducks

Kukla’s Korner.com
note1: the Burke audio is extremely low due to technical issues.
note2: a printed transcript will be added below as soon as it’s available


Update 2:59pm ET: At the Globe & Mail, Eric Duhatschek provides some analysis of the commentary in this press conference.

Another Holland To Toronto Push

by Paul on 02/11/08 at 11:39 AM
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from Ken Campbell of the Hockey News,

You don’t think Sam Pollock or Frank Selke or Jack Adams would have won Cups if they had changed teams? Does that mean Lou Lamoriello or Holland would suddenly lose their ability to build a winner if they changed organizations?

Of course it doesn’t, which is why if the Maple Leafs search committee doesn’t do everything it possibly can to get permission to speak with Ken Holland, then hire him if they do, then they are simply abdicating their responsibility and doing the organization a complete disservice.

That’s because Holland is the best GM in the NHL, period. That’s why the Detroit Red Wings have won three Stanley Cups and are a perennial contender regardless of the financial landscape of the league. There’s absolutely no reason to believe he wouldn’t bring those same attributes to Toronto if he were hired.

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The Wings Plan

by Paul on 02/09/08 at 08:16 AM
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from the Toronto Sun,

Holland heard all of the predictions that his team would be in for a freefall once the salary cap era started. Now, with his Wings vying for first overall in the league, he can have the last laugh.

“Every team in the league has 60-70% of the cap tied up in eight or nine core players,” he said. “It was that way before the cap. That makes it even more important to find ways to fill out your roster.”

Holland has done a masterful job to that end. Free-agent pickup Daniel Cleary, on pace for a 20-plus goal campaign, has a salary of $650,000 this season. Chris Osgood, who is among the league leaders in goals-against average and save percentage, recently signed an extension for a hometown discount of $1.41 million per season. And ageless Chris Chelios, a priceless team leader, earns an economical $1.15 million.

much more on Holland and the Wings… Also, don’t forget that Zetterberg will be making $2.9M for next season, and that may be the bargain of the year.

The Perfect Man For The Leafs Job

by Paul on 01/24/08 at 01:07 PM
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from Jim Kelley at Sportsnet,

My target: Ken Holland, the general manager of the Detroit Red Wings. There are others and some of the unencumbered mentioned above have their appeal, but if you want the best man in hockey today, it’s Holland. Getting him won’t be easy or cheap, but it’s not exactly mission impossible either.

Start with a subtle overture. Sources have told me that Holland isn’t put off by the challenge of rescuing the most poorly run rich franchise in the National Hockey League. He’s not afraid of the demands of the legion of long-suffering fans or the oft-times hostile and over-abundant media.

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A few nights ago, Fan590 radio in Toronto reported that the Leafs did contact Ilitch about 6 weeks ago for approval to talk with Holland and Jim Nill, their request was turned down.

Holland Always Worried About The Next Game

by Paul on 10/31/07 at 04:25 PM
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from Pierre LeBrun of the CP via Yahoo,

“For me, I’m scared coming to the rink every day,” said Wings general manager Ken Holland. “I’m already worried about Thursday night in Calgary. I’ve been living like that for three years.”

Scared? Worried? But Ken, the Wings are leading the Western Conference and riding a six-game win streak.

“We’ve found a lot of ways to win by a goal,” he told The Canadian Press on Wednesday.

Holland may not want the attention, but the way in which the Red Wings continue to win merits a closer look.

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